1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to lawn care equipment, and more particularly to a new and improved rotary head for use in a dethatching machine. Furthermore, the subject invention relates to a rotary head with replaceable filaments that is low cost, easy to manufacture, easy to maintain, and extremely sturdy in construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thatch is a mat of undecomposed plant material, consisting primarily of grass clippings accumulated next to the soil in a lawn. Excessive thatch is undesirable, since it chokes the roots of the grass, restricts exposure of the soil to the atmosphere, and causes run-off of water away from the soil. Presently, thatch is removed by raking and collecting the accumulated material. However, thatch is generally embedded in a lawn and it requires a time-consuming effort to remove. Gasoline powered dethatchers are known in the art and ease the dethatching process. These dethatchers suffer from several drawbacks. First, the dethatchers are primarily built for the professional landscaper rather than the average homeowner. Thus, these machines are designed and built to professional standards, having size, power, and a price tag not suitable for the homeowner. Whereas the professional landscaper will use this dethatcher on a regular basis, the homeowner, who may use it once or twice a year, cannot justify the high expense of such a machine. Secondly, the prior art dethatchers employ a completely metallic structure for extracting the thatch from a lawn. In particular, metallic claws or coils extend from a cylindrical, rotating housing, which are systematically passed into the grass to loosen and dislodge the thatch. Loosened thatch is collected either by raking, blowing or vacuuming and then properly disposed of. Also, loosened thatch may be mulched by passing over the loosened thatch with a mulching mower thereby reducing the need for fertilizers or valuable space in the waste stream. Unfortunately, the claws and coils are often damaged by hidden rocks, roots, or other debris, or tangled up with the thatch material thereby reducing the effectiveness of thatch removal. As such, the claws and coils must be removed and either replaced with substitute parts or cleaned. Such removal, however, requires a special tool and a time consuming effort.
An improvement to prior art dethatchers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,214 which was invented by the applicant of the subject invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,214 is incorporated herein by reference. In applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,214 an improved dethatching machine is disclosed that incorporates a plurality of rotating heads having a number of flexible filaments for dethatching a lawn. Since the number of heads was adjustable depending on the scope of the job, it is suitable for use by homeowners in a small electric powered model, while a larger gasoline powered version is suitable for the professional landscaper. Although this device is an improvement over the prior art, the present application is a further improvement on that device.
Therefore, it is an objective of the subject invention to provide a rotary head for a dethatching machine that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and does not include moving parts to hold the dethating claws.
A further objective of the subject invention is to provide a rotary head with easy to replace components.
Another objective of the subject invention is to provide a rotary head that is capable of being used with a plurality of like rotary heads in a variety of configurations.
Yet, another objective of the subject invention is to provide a rotary head for use on both professional and homeowner dethatching machines.
A housing containing a plurality of flexible filaments is disposed on a rotating shaft for removing thatch from a grassy surface. The rotating shaft is part of a motorized dethatching machine. The housing is used in conjunction with a plurality of like constructed housings as an integral part of a dethatching machine. The housings have a fixed orientation with respect to each other and this orientation is user adjustable to correspond to the requirements of the job at hand.
The housing of the rotary head has a plurality of channels, evenly distributed along the outer perimeter for receiving the flexible dethatching filaments. The dethatching filaments are elongated with a plurality of barb-like protrusions on one end for engagement in the channels of the housings. Once a filament is inserted into a channel, it cannot be pulled out due to the protrusions engaging the interior and exterior walls of the channel. This maintains each filament in the proper position while the head is rotating. During rotation of the head, the flexible filaments contact the accumulated thatch with sufficient force to loosen and dislodge the thatch for later retrieval and clean up. A damaged filament is readily replaced by inserting a new filament into the channel, thereby dislodging the broken or damaged filament, and fixing the new filament in position.